The news is flashed across our TV screen at every turn. Swelling numbers of infected people. Death toll rising on a daily basis. Everywhere you turn, all you hear is the new nomenclature of the Covid world. Facemasks, PPE, endemic, pandemic, prophylactic, and contact tracing. It’s enough to drive you crazy. Of course, all of that can go away. We just have to get vaccinated, right?
Ah, but not so fast. There are logistical problems to work out. Manufacturers need to manufacture. Supply chains to be supplied. Patients need to be immunized with the immunizations from the supply chain. Patients need to get vaccinated.
That all means patients must want the vaccine, thereby increasing the demand for the supply and the supply for the demand.
Unsurprisingly, 70% of Americans do want the vaccine. They’re scrambling to get it. After all, once the general population is properly vaccinated, this all goes away. We can shed our masks and once again breathe freely, we can visit loved ones, or go to the movies again, have dinner at a restaurant or beers at a bar. It’s back to normal life and the pandemic fades like the bad dream it was.
Except.
The vaccine we all wanted may not be the vaccine we’ve gotten. Instead of lifelong immunity, this vaccine’s effectiveness is likely only temporary.
As a child, we all learned about the diseases this country has faced over time. Polio, smallpox, measles, mumps, even chickenpox. We all either succumbed to the illness, only to weather the storm and live on in the comfort of lifetime immunity, or we took a shot in the rump and never had to deal with it in the first place. Thus, our understanding of how vaccines work was formed.
Covid, however, is a different animal. The immunity you get from the vaccine isn’t a lifelong membership. It’s a 3-month free trial. Do you want continued immunity? Be prepared to get more shots, and next time, won’t be free.
Covid 19 is a coronavirus. A coronavirus is a large group of viruses that can infect humans and animals. Most humans encounter coronaviruses in their lifetime and barely notice. The common cold. We get a runny nose, muscle aches, maybe a fever, and it’s gone in a few days.
Covid 19, however, can come with more serious symptoms, sometimes requiring hospitalization, breathing machines, intensive care, etc. For obvious reasons, you can’t just ignore it like you would the common cold, even though it’s likely the same type of virus in both instances.
The problem lies in the fact that we don’t have a cure for either. Treating vaccines is difficult, to say the least. Developing a vaccine for a coronavirus is equally challenging.
The ones they’re passing out now will likely only give temporary immunity. Dr. Fauci recently discussed his concerns regarding the “Durability” of the current versions. In fact, he stated that its durability could be as little as 3-6 months. This fact alone creates a multitude of logistical issues.
In order to be maximally effective, the entire world would need to be vaccinated in a 3 month time period. Otherwise, the virus would still be able to infect those whose immunity has already faded, and simply spread as our immunity drops away. Of course, that timeline is based on the worst-case scenario.
Let’s say it lasts 6 months. That would mean we’d have to vaccinate ourselves twice a year to maintain immunity. As the virus mutates, doctors would need to find the most common mutations and tailor the injection to cover the most likely types to spread in the next 6 months. That way, we can try to stay one step ahead at all times.
Does any of this sound familiar? Yes, just like the humble flu, the coronavirus will require constant supervision. Instead of just a yearly flu shot, we’re now going for a bi-yearly coronavirus shot too.
Last year I went to my local pharmacy for a flu shot and was charged 40 bucks for the privilege. I wonder how much the Covid shot will be, considering its current infamy. I mean, they could charge whatever they wanted and we’d just have to suck it up and pay. We’re over the barrel folks. With the advent of the revenue-generating temporary Covid vaccine, what motivation would the pharmaceutical companies have to create a more permanent solution? After all, it’s more profitable to sustain a disease than to cure one.
That’s right, better get used to it, folks. Covid is now part of our economy for the foreseeable future.
